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Introduction
This is a wiki about a worldbuilding project of mine, Moqa. Worldbuilding is both an admittedly autistic endaveour and a treasured hobby of mine. It involves creating fantasy worlds and fleshing them out by means of stories, maps, images and lore. In this introduction I'll try and explain a little bit what it is all about. More in-depth reading and pseudo-encyclopedical articles about certain concepts and geographical locations can be found by going to the index. Basics Are the laws of nature and physics actually different in this world, or are they the same as in real life? :They are the same. There is also no magic or some other force that is not present on Earth. Is this world in the same universe as earth? :Short answer: no. Long answer: I don't really know. It has no actual implications for the world itself, as it is nowhere near earth. Because of some extreme similarities with Earth (e.g. some coastlines are the same, flora and fauna are the same) I assume this world is a parallel version of Earth in another universe, but I haven't really decided yet. Is this generally an earth-like world? :Yes, to a certain extent. It is the same size, has the same mean density (and thus the same mass). All physical parameters are the same as Earth. Gravitational pull, composition of the atmosphere and crust is the same. It also orbits its sun in almost the same time. It spins around its axis in 24 hours. The lay-out of land and water differs though. It is inhabited by humans and lots of animal and plant species are the same as on Earth. There are a couple of plant and animal species not present on this world that are present on Earth and vice versa. Are there different human races, whether or not there are non-humans like elves or dwarves? How does the cultural and ethnic diversity of this world compare to the real world? :There is only one intelligent species, humans. There are no other (semi-)sentient humanoid species such as dwarves, elves, school headmasters and CEOs. There are five human races, all of the same species, comparable to the three races of men on Earth. The concept "race" on this world is analoguous to the concept of "race" on earth, so not the Tolkien LotR definition of race as a synonym for humanoid species. :The cultural and ethnic diversity is even greater than Earth. Globalization hasn't yet properly begun on Moqa, so there is no dominant world culture. I can't really give an exact number of ethnic groups or languages as this is an on-going project, but a reasonable number would be in the thousands. Compare this to earth's 4,000 or 5,000 languages. Many countries on Moqa are also not almost homogenous in terms of ethnicity, which is often the case on earth in Europe and certain Asian countries. How long have there been people on this world? Did they evolve, or did they migrate from somewhere/when else? :There have been people on this world for at least a couple of ten thousands of years. They, and a couple of other human species that went extinct, evolved from a common ancestor which lived in the Mivha region of Cominore, a continent on the southern hemisphere of Moqa. :Some of the less level-headed inhabitants of my world speculate that they are descendents of aliens. Whenever the remains of one of the extinct human species is found they go batshit crazy and found sects and stuff like that. However, these must be considered the actions of madmen, not representative for Moqan society at-large. How many people are there on this world? How does this compare with earth population? What is considered a small town/large town/city in terms of number of people? :There are 2,516 million people (that is slightly more than two and a half billion for the mathematically illiterate) on this world. :There are a couple of disproportionately large cities on this world, even for earthly standards. The largest city, Zibinta, has 34 million inhabitants and is by far the largest city of Ubisa and even all of Moqa. The other megacities are Jahawalpurrad (in Sornomali), Canten and Disjit (both in Kadaitska), Mahuro and Clujmadera (both in Cochuka), Esgeta (in Opole), Ravan (in Feidhir) and Urkannad (in Tennet). Despite the presence of these megacities, Moqa is a lot less urbanized then earth. A sizeable amount of people still live in rural settlements and the average town or village is very small and quaint, almost Hobbit-style cozy. How much land is there, and how much of it is habitable? :I couldn't really be bothered to calculate the exact amount of land compared to the amount of land on earth, but on first glance it is more or less the same amount. This is also what I assumed while worldbuilding. The amount of land suitable for habitation and agriculture is a tad higher than earth, mainly because the total desert area is lower. Moqan society is more sustainable (but certainly not more ethical) than earth, which I will explain further on in this article. How about a moon? What do they call it? :There is one moon. The Moqans call it "moon". :To answer the question more seriously, there is one moon, the same size as earth's moon. It has the same effects on Moqa as the earth's moon has on earth. It generates a tide (which some Moqan religions explain by means of a token sea god) and it is revered and loathed throughout the planet, depending on societal and theological beliefs. What about the solar system that Moqa is part of? :It is called the Gana system in Opolni, one of the primary languages of Moqa. It's sun is similar to earth's sun. The Gana system has 7 planets, of which three are gaseous giants. I am not really a space guy, so I still need to expand on this section though. Geography and ecology How do the Moqan landmasses look like? How many continents are there and what are their names? :Like this: :██ Cominore :██ Syrilgen :██ Sodhassae :██ Unryie :██ Mhasifu :There are five continents that comprise four continental landmasses, two continental islands (Thuane and Cadaro) and several islands and archipelagos. What are the flora and fauna of Moqa like? :Very similar to earth. I opted to re-use as many earth species as possible. Some species are not present on Moqa because they didn't fit any of the biomes however. Other species are only native to Moqa and not present on earth. But in general, most species are similar to earth and vice versa. Politics How is Moqa governed? How many countries are there? :Like earth, independent sovereign nations claim the planet's entire land surface. There are 107 countries, some small, some very big. Some countries are federations of smaller petty kingdoms, client states, autonomous regions or some other form of autonomously governed subdivision. So, the actual number of nations is higher, as some countries are essentially federations or harbor a lot of almost autonomous client states. What are the most powerful countries? :Ubisa and Cochuka are super powers that dominate much of the eastern hemisphere. The most powerful nations on Mhasifu are Opole and Feidhir. The sphere of influence of Sornomali extends from west Cominore to Syrilgen. Kadaitska is a powerful nation that comprises a substantial part of Cominore and has lots of regional influence. :Other powerful nations are Envina, Shyrjah, Cadaro and Cassai. Regional powers include Mhas, Ondiann, Garande, Thuania, Niror and Tennet. Which peoples/countries/races fought, allied, traded, or were traditional rivals? Where are there still hard feelings about old events? :There are a couple of countries that trade extensively with each other. The countries bordering the Cassaian sea all trade with each other. The countries bordering the seas between Mhasifu and Syrilgen also trade with each other. There are also trade networks in the Cadaran sea, the Thuanian sea, the Khantenian sea and the Mhasifian sea. Examples of alliances that exist or have existed are between the Durgesian countries, between the Mhassian countries (the Mhasifia), between the Atian countries and the Dhonesian countries. Examples of countries that are actually federations or alliances of smaller states are Shyrjah, Kadaitska (especially the Mivha region), Cassai, Feidhir, Cochuka, Ubisa and Thuania. :*Envina (and Kammakore) waged a war on many other Cominore countries recently. While the dictature in Kammakore was overthrown by its people and the country subsequently formed the Kadaitska federation with Kavi and Mivha, Envina fought until the end. This prevented social rehabilitation of the Envinan people. Still, there is a lot of resentment against the Envinans and its allies (Envinan expats and minority groups in other coutnries, the country of Cetaia and the Envinan-oriented parts of Ihonds). This led to a number of events: the occupation of Cetaia for a short while by Kadaitska, a civil war in Ihonds leading to two new countries (Ihonds and Ihonds Tho Seese), and a general attitude of disgust towards Envinans that travel to countries that were hit especially hard by the war. (Cassai, certain parts of Kadaitska, Varana, Altameria, the Etian countries, Titio, Kensterzio, Monrovia, Virlinia and Alsadaije) :*There is a long-lasting rivalry between Feidhir and Opole. Both strived to become the major power in the Brigant, leading to countless (proxy) wars and incidents. The former colonies of Opole and Feidhir still retain some of this sense of rivalry. Feidhir and Opole allied on two occasions in more recent times, the Cominore war and the fight against the Egalitarian revolution. This led to a more peaceful and stable situation. :*The countries of Thuane (Cao Senh, Thuania, Thusisa, Na Teín and Glidanamh) are all theocracies that adhere to the same religion. A complicated system of petty kingdoms and smaller monastical states within the theocracies extends across international borders on Thuane. In general, the Thuanian countries cooperate in all aspects of life and are often allied when it comes to broader political issues. Is there a “trade language” that facilitates commerce between countries that don’t speak the same tongue? Is there a “universal language” spoken by educated or noble persons, as Latin was in the Middle Ages? :The trade language of the Brigant is Opolni, the language of Opole, except for Feidhir and countries associated with Feidhir, such as Hanwe, Fustär and Toho. Here, Feidhirni is preferred. Opolni is also used in many places in Syrilgen and west Mhasifu. Feidhir is also used to a certain extent in some countries of Syrilgen and west-Mhasifu (especially Tennet, Mesengir, Niror, Isro and Cternagareb). :The trade language of east Cominore is Envinani and of northeast and north Cominore (especially the coastal regions) Cassaini. Kammari is used throughout the south, as is Sornani, one of the languages spoken in Sornomali. Sorno is also used in all of Syrilgen. Cochukani, is prevalent in Cochuka, but Ubisbethani (an Ubisan language) is the most common trade language in all of the eastern hemisphere. :Universal languages spoken by the educated upper class and nobility are Disji in Cominore, Old Mhasani in the Brigant, High Atian (Atiani,an upper class standardized version of the Atian languages) in some parts of Syrilgen and High Dhonesani (standardized Dhonesian) in some parts of Sodhassae. Zybyrani, although still spoken by millions of people, is considered a desirable language to learn and speak by the Ubisan upper class. As a result, many Umqiwazani, Ubisbethani, Khorazani, Kyzulani and Tuwani-speaking nobility also speak Zybyrani.